Reunion
by hildekitten
Summary: Family isn't all about genetics, and yet sometimes it is.


**Versailles, France, an old castle**, much smaller than the actual château de Versailles, on the outskirts of town, it's an impressive building nonetheless. Lance is standing on the steps leading to the front door, his hands in his pockets and very much at ease, while a girl approaches. She has long red hair and slate grey eyes, dressed casually in black slacks and longsleeve. She seems to be in her mid-twenties.  
They nod at each other in greeting and walk inside next to each other.  
The girl is the first to break the silence.  
_"Did she say why she wanted to see me after all these years?"  
"No, the only thing she asked for was for you to come, so I send for you."_  
_"And I came here indeed, for I cannot refuse you."_ There's a hint of bitterness in her voice but it seems to be aimed at the situation rather than him.  
She turns to look at Lance and then reaches over to hug him. It's a friendly gesture, like a girl hugging a favourite uncle. And uncharacteristically for him, he drops his guard and hugs her back, pressing an affectionate kiss on her cheek. There's a sparkle in his eyes, even in the jet black one.  
They continue walking, down the hall, with portraits of family members. A stern looking blonde gentleman, the red haired girl, Lance and several others, organised more or less like a family tree.  
They go down several fights of stairs into a dungeon behind a steel bolted door to a cell where Coraline is sitting on a bench. Lance stops at the door opening and watches. Watching over the younger woman.  
The girl's eyes are cold, anger barely conceiled. For a moment she vamps out, and her eyes are jet black before they return to their regular grey. There's venom in her tone when she speaks.  
_"Well "mother". You have called for me and I have come. Now what is it that you wish to see me about, after all these years?"_  
Coraline stands, reaches out to touch her childe's cheek trough the bars. The girl flinches but lets her. They look in each other's eyes and it is the elder vampire that speaks first.  
_"I have caused you so much wrong, I took away your life, your family. Let me give back to you what you thought you have lost."_  
The girl smirks _"how? Have you found a way to revert time? So you can stop yourself from seducing my brother? So you never fall in love and you never turn him? And he never tries to turn me?"  
"You would have died if he hadn't, you were having a heart attack."  
"And that's why I can find it in my heart to forgive him in a second, but you, you caused his death."_

[In the shadows at the door Lance frowns but remains silent, yet takes a few steps forward, towards them.]

_"No, no I didn't. That is the great wrong I caused you both that night, I separated you. Your brother wasn't killed for attempting to turn you whilst he was still under my tutelage. I turned you after he drained you and told him I had tried to turn you but that it had failed. That I had come too late. I told you he was dead because I knew that you, the oracle, were what I needed to redeem myself with Him, my sire for turning Mick without his consent. But now that my fate has been sealed, it doesn't matter anymore, and I want to right that wrong."_  
The girl looks shell shocked and takes a few steps back, out of range of Coraline's touch. _"My brother is alive? Where is he? WHERE?"  
"He still lives in L.A., under the same name. Mick St-John. Lance knows where he lives."_  
She turns to Lance in disbelief.  
_"You KNEW! You KNEW and you never told me? How could you!"_  
His voice is emotionless when he answers, as nearly always, cold and flat: _"He's an ungrateful creature unworthy of our royal blood. Always looking to return to the mortal coil, in fact the last time I saw him he had just succeeded to do so, after Coraline gave him the compound. If you wish to be reunited with him, you will have to do it yourself."_  
She shakes her head in anger and runs past them, at vampire speed. Lance doesn't try to stop her, he just watches her go, emotionless, and starts walking up the stairs, but pauses when Coraline calls out to him.  
_"She'll never forgive you brother. We are even now."_  
He turns to face her, his voice is matter of factly: _"And that is exactly where you are wrong sister. Neither sibling will forgive you, but she will forgive me. And when she grows tired of the humanity of her brother's life, she will return back to Him, and our family. It will be sooner than you think. After all, who else but us will accept her like she is? Only the vampires of the old world remember and accept the oracles."_  
He smiles at her one last time, and walks away from her. Leaving her to watch him go, her eyes sad.

**L.A., Beth's apartment:**  
Beth wakes up next to Mick after their first night together. She looks amazed, which is unsurprising seeing they nearly broke up before they first slept together. Amazed but happy. Mick has his arms wrapped around her and smiles when he sees she's awake. He reaches over to kiss her and strokes his fingers through her hair.  
They look in each other's eyes and smile at each other.  
_"Did you watch me sleep?"  
"Yes, you were so beautiful, I couldn't help myself."_ He smiles.  
She smiles back at him, happily. _"I love you Mick."_  
_"I love you too Beth."_  
They kiss passionately, and when the kiss ends Beth suddenly realised just how bright it is in the bedroom.  
_"What time is it?"_  
He looks over to the clock, he has no clue of the time, he only had eye for her while she slept after their lovemaking last night. "11."  
_"Oh my god, I should have been at work for hours! Ben probably thinks I've had an accident or something".  
"You should probably call him before he sends out the troops to check up on you."_  
She reaches out for him and kisses him again: _"I'm sure he can wait 5 more minutes."_

**Downtown L.A.**  
Josef and Simone are coming out of an expensive store, hand in hand, when Josef picks up the scent of another vampire nearby. Sniffing the air he turns to look across the street. There a girl is having the same reaction, and their eyes meet. He's shocked, instinctively positioning Simone behind him. She looks startled and follows her lover's gaze to the young redhead with the cold grey eyes. A bus drives past, and when it's gone, so is the girl.  
Josef looks absolutely dumbfounded.  
_"Josef, do you know that girl?"  
"I did, many many years ago, very briefly."  
"Who is she?"  
"Someone that was supposed to have died in 1952."  
"That can't be, we just saw her. Who is she?"  
"She's Mick's younger sister…"_  
Simone's jaw drops and she stares at Josef in disbelief.

**Mick's apartment:**  
Mick is sitting at his computer, replying to emails and sipping blood from a mug when someone knocks on the door and blatantly walks in without waiting for the door to be opened.  
It's Josef looking anxious.  
_"Josef. What's wrong?"  
"I just saw someone in downtown L.A. who should have been dead for decades."  
"Who?"  
"Your sister Ophelia."_  
Mick just stares at him in disbelief and then gets angry _"That's NOT funny Josef."  
"No it's really not. But it's true, I saw her standing across the street, and she saw me. She's a vampire just like us. And not just that, she was giving off a mighty amount of decay in her scent, way too much for someone that young."_

_**Mick voice-over:**_**/i**  
_"It has been 58 years since I last saw Ophelia. On that faithful night where her heart gave out during an argument with me and I tried to turn her."_

***flashback***

They're at Mick and Coraline's house. The girl is mortal, pale and sickly looking, she has to sit down because she's shaking so badly. Her body is failing her, but her eyes are full of life, full of fire. He's afraid to take her in his arms, afraid he'll hurt her. The argument is breaking his heart as much as hers.  
_"Why don't you want to see us anymore Mick? Why are you avoiding us? Mum and dad are so upset. Is it Coraline? Does she feel like we're not good enough for her or something?"  
"No it's nothing like that. It's just… complicated. I can't explain. It's for your own good Ophelia, please believe me. You should go."_  
The girl has tears in her eyes when she stands.  
_"How can you do this to us? To me?"_ she looks at him, her eyes reveal just how betrayed she feels and he feels tears well up in his own eyes.  
_"Ophelia, please, you need to go home, you're sick."_  
She's getting more and more agitated. _"Don't give me that!"_ she's shouting now. _"I'm always sick! It's always been everyone's excuse to lock me out of life, their lives but you were always different! You never cared that I wasn't like other kids' siblings."_ Supporting herself against the table she continues _"how can you be different now? What happened to you? I want the big brother back that I know!"_  
He doesn't even get the chance to answer, she collapses, and he knows it's her heart, because he can't hear it beat anymore. Panicking he does the only thing he knows, he bites down on her wrist and starts draining her in an attempt to save her by turning her.  
Before he can sit up and give her his own blood Coraline walks in. She looks shocked, and then throws him off her.  
_"What have you done to your sister Mick? You've killed her!"  
"NO! I was going to save her, turn her! There is still time, I need to turn her or she'll die!"_  
Coraline picks up the girl in her arms and walks off. _"No, it's too late. You killed her."_  
Mick is left behind, burying his face in his hands, sitting on his knees, heartbroken.

***return to the present***

He looks at Josef. _"How is this possible? I saw her die. I killed her."_  
He walks over and pats his best friend on the shoulder. _"I think we need to find out what really happened. One thing is for sure, she's very much undead."_  
They look up when Beth walks in. She opens her mouth to greet both men and then sees Mick's face. Walking over to him she strokes a hand over his cheek.  
_"Mick what's wrong?"  
"Josef saw my sister Ophelia, who I thought I killed 58 years ago."_

**Fade to Logan's basement:**  
Logan is looking at an old photo of Ophelia. _"Is this all we have to go by?"_  
Mick is pacing, Beth is looking unsure of how to calm him down. She's not seen him this agitated since he first thought Coraline was Morgan. Josef is thinking silently.  
Mick snaps: _"Yes! Can you help?"_  
Logan looks worried. _"I can run a facial recognition program through passports and IDs, but it's going to take time. And it might not even work seeing this photo is so old. After this time it's safe to assume she's using a new name, which we don't have."_  
Josef looks up at Mick _"What if she doesn't even have a current ID?"_  
_"What do you mean, it's vital to blend in with society."  
"What if she never needed to? You said so yourself that the "family" is pretty tight knit. What if she stayed with them all this time. Then we'd be looking for a needle in a hay stack."  
"Well what do you suggest, that we take a plane to Europe and go looking for Lance and ask him if he knows more?"  
"No we don't have to take it that far, forget what I said, she couldn't have gotten into the states without a passport. Even Lance has one."  
"No, she couldn't have, especially not after 9/11."_  
Beth interrupts: _"It makes sense. You told me that Lance took Coraline away with him. What if she turned your sister after she took her body all those years ago? What if she send her to Europe? It would explain how they could keep her being a vampire so quiet."_  
Logan nods: _"She's right. Think about how many vampires here in L.A. you guys know of. We know there's hundreds, and they all move around. If she had been in the U.S. someone at some point should have encountered her. How many St-John's are there? Up to now, you're the only one I knew of and I have quite an extensive circle of acquaintances and I hardly ever leave my place. Think about how many vamps you'd know if you move around."_  
Beth sighs deeply and hugs Mick tentatively, as if she half expects him to push her away. But he hugs her back, clearly comforted by having her close to him.  
_"I think I might have a way to find her without you guys needing to resort to reaching that maniac Lance."_  
Mick turns to look at her, and both Josef and Logan have questioning looks. _"There are security cameras everywhere in shops, clubs, ATMs, you name it... If Logan can tap into them, we can try to trace her movements. With some luck we'll get a better photo of her and we can find her that way. And just to be sure, Logan you should probably run a search on Ophelia St-John anyway."  
"And on Duvall. That's Coraline and her brother's last name. If she stayed with them all of these years that might be her name now."_ Mick looks pensive.  
Logan nods enthousiastically _"I can't believe I didn't think of that! You're absolutely right! This will take a while though, I'll call you when I know more."_

_**Mick voice-over:**_/i  
_"I know the past has a way to haunt you, and to catch up with you, but I never thought nor dreamt I'd see my sister again. I just hope she can forgive me for trying to make her into a monster all those years ago."_

**Fade to the night, the Edison:**  
_Did you think you would be saved?  
by burning flags to cleanse yourselves of shame?  
Or are you afraid as you stare back at your face?  
are you ashamed, are you afraid,  
by destroying what the gods had made?  
Did you think you would be saved?_

She's walking down the club, dressed up all Goth. Moving through the crowds with ease, yet lost in her own thoughts. She's unsure of why she was drawn to this place, but after all of these years, she's stopped questioning her instincts.  
And then she notices him and she forgets everything else. Tall, short brown hair sticking out all ends, she bets he has some kind of neat haircut in his professional life. Black slim fit trousers, combat boots and spats, black skin tight t-shirt that looks like places of it have been drybrushed with silver paint. She doesn't know why, but she finds him strangely attractive, something about his scent, the gleam in his eyes, almost predatory, yet he's not a vampire, nor quite human. And then, as if fate itself has intervened, he looks at her and their eyes meet and the connection hits.

***fade out, the club turns into a forest***

She sees eyes of a wolf, the vision enlarging to see a gray wolf with golden brown eyes. It just looks at her, expectantly… as if it's waiting for her to react to it's presence, almost longing for her to do so.

***the forest fades back to the club, and the sound of the wind in the leaves turns into the music pumping all around her***

I believe that we'll conceive  
to make in hell for us a heaven.  
A brave new world.  
A promised land.  
A fortitude of hearts and minds.

_"Hey, I know it probably sounds like a really lame pick-up line, but have we met before?"_  
She blinks and looks up, freeing herself from her vision and looking him straight in the eye, smiling radiantly. She doesn't know how long the vision lasted, but clearly long enough for him to walk over to her and feel intrigued enough to address her.  
_"I don't think so. But we have now, …almost."_  
He smiles back at her and extends a hand. _"Benjamin Talbot."_  
_"Ophelia St-John"_ Smiling she shakes his outstretched hand, amazed at the strenght of his handshake.  
_"St-John?"_ his voice is sounding surprised. _"You're not related to Mick St-John by any chance are you?"_  
_"As a matter of fact I am, he's my older brother."  
"Really? I didn't know he had a sister."  
"I've lived in Paris with one of our uncles for years, he doesn't even know I'm in town, I want to surprise him. We haven't seen each other in years."  
"Well, I sure wish I could see the look on his face. Seeing his little sister all grown up"_ he grins, cheerfully, obviously amused at the thought of Mick looking dumbfounded.  
She smiles _"well how could I deny you that Benjamin Talbot? Why don't you come along, now's as good a time as any for surprises."_  
He grins, mischievously like a schoolboy and nods _"sure, why not, that sounds like a plan. Let me ring Beth to see where they are. Where there's one of them, the other is never far behind. What a coincidence huh, that we meet here in this club whilst we both know your brother."_  
She smiles and nods, following him out, grinning widely behind his back, a hint of her fangs is visible.

**Mick's apartment:**  
Mick is sitting on the sofa, brooding. Beth is sitting on the opposite sofa, watching him, unsure what to say or do. Choosing to let him be for the moment instead.

_**Mick-voice over:**_  
_"For nearly 60 years I thought I had murdered my sister, and now it turns out she's been alive all that time. I might get my wish for a family after all."_

Beth's iphone gives the signal that a text message arrives. She frowns at it and replies before looking up to Mick, the frown still in her forehead while she speaks _"I just got a text from Talbot, asking me where we both are, that he wants to meet us and it's really important. I told him to come here and texted him the address."_  
Mick nods but doesn't say anything.

_**Mick voice-over:**_  
"Great, the last person I want to see now is going to be at my door in a matter of time."

**Meanwhile, in Ben's car:**  
_"So how long have you been in L.A.?"  
"Oh I only pretty much just arrived yesterday."  
"Where are you staying?"  
"An old family home. It's amazing how much has changed since I've last been there. And yet, so many things have remained exactly the same, even after so much time."_  
Ben nods, looking suspicious, while parking the car opposite Mick's apartment building. _"You know, yesterday I got a list of names. Late at night shoved under the door of my office, your brother's name was on it. Tonight before I left the office, this happened again, only now some names were taken off, crossed out, and a new name had been added underneath your brother's. Yours. Any clue as to what's up with that?"_  
He looks at her, clearly waiting for an explanation, and she smiles dangerously. It doesn't reach her eyes.  
_"Why do you ask questions to which you know the answer Benjamin?"  
"Because I want to hear the answer out loud."  
"The person hiding similar secrets about himself gets to go first."_  
He looks startled. _"You know?"_ but quickly composes himself again _"I asked you first."_  
Her tone is matter of factly, filled with ennui and the fact that the conversation is still on this topic, while she really just wants to see her brother.  
_"You know perfectly well we are vampires. How could you not know, being what you are. I want that list by the way, I don't think the vampire society will appreciate it much if they found out that a werewolf had a list of vamps in his possession."_  
She gets out of the car, unhurried, as if what either of them just said doesn't even vaguely bother her.  
He gets out too, the car still in between them. _"How do you know?"_  
She looks him straight in the eye and walks around the car, stopping in front of him and looking him in the eye. Her voice friendly now, entirely different from the threats she made just a moment ago: _"I knew the second I looked you in the eye. I knew the second I shook your hand and felt the primal power in your grip, well hidden in what humans would think a strong handshake. And I knew the second I placed your scent. You're not making me believe it's just a cologne, that might work on everyone else, but not on me."_  
_"How come you're so unphased about all of this? And how come you've noticed, none of the other vampires I've met ever have."  
"You should spend an hour with my uncle Lance, you wouldn't phase easily anymore either. But I believe we came here because you wanted to see the look of shock on my brother's face?"_ She averts the question easily.  
He nods "yeah, yeah of course." And leads the way to Mick's apartment, looking distinctively like he realises he's bitten off more than he can chew with this entire situation.

**Mick's apartment:**  
Beth goes to open as soon as there's knocking on the door.  
_"Hi Ben, how's it going?"  
"Hi Beth, sorry for disturbing you guys so late, but I found someone at the Edison that I think Mick really wants to see."_  
Mick, listening from the sofa sits up, sniffing the air.

_**Mick-voice over:**_  
_"Could it be?"_

He stands up, and starts to walk in the direction of where Talbot is, and sees Beth pull the door wide open to let Ben in. And the surprise on her face when she sees the girl stepping into sight from behind Talbot, looking only a few years younger than herself. The scent hits him, very much that of a vampire. The girl looks around with cold eyes.

_**Mick-voice over:**_  
_"Normally I wouldn't have passed up an opportunity to mock Talbot about his clubwear, but now, I just have eyes for the girl I thought I killed years ago but is standing there as alive, or should I say undead, as I am."_  
She looks at him and shrugs. _"Coraline said you were dead."_  
_"She said the same about you."_  
All the composure, the near arrogance in her entire body language, it fades and she runs up to him, throwing herself in his embrace. Tears are running down their faces when the siblings are reunited.  
Mick holds her at arm's length and looks at her. _"Your heart? You're…"_  
_"I'm not sick anymore. You did save me that day."  
"I'm so sorry Ophelia…"_  
She looks him in the eye _"You have nothing to be sorry about. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been because of you."_  
He hugs here again before letting go, looking at Talbot and walking over to him, extending a hand and then changing his mind and hugging Ben tightly instead. _"Thanks man, really."_  
_"Hey, no problem. I'm going to leave you to it, it's a family reunion after all. Ophelia, give me a call when you can ok, we need to talk, Beth has my number."_  
She nods and smiles. _"I will, thanks Ben."_  
_"Yeah, no problem. 'Night guys."_ He looks at them one more time and leaves, pulling the door back behind him.  
Mick watches him leave, it's obvious from his expression that he suddenly thinks much higher of Talbot. Then he hugs his sister again and motions for Beth to come over.  
_"Ophelia. This is my girlfriend, Beth Turner."_  
Beth smiles, obviously hit by the emotions also _"A pleasure to meet you"._  
Ophelia smiles and hugs her, and both of them are pulled in an embrace by Mick.

_**Mick-voice over:**_  
_"I have a family again…"_


End file.
